Offline Marketing-Prospect Lists

Everyone is on a mailing list.Hell, we are all on lots of mailing lists!We hate getting unsolicited mail, we curse, we crumple the offers up, and we bitch about the needless destruction of forests for the paper used to send us the junk mail. But wait…what happens when it stops arriving?Doesn’t anybody care about us anymore?

True story – many years ago Canada Post offered residential customers the option to place a sticker on their mailboxes proclaiming their right to stop receiving unaddressed mail.Within a year almost every sticker disappeared as customers decided that they actually liked some of that mail, especially the mail that was well targeted to them.

Aha!Well targeted.That is the key – the key to every successfully mailed new customer acquisition campaign.It all comes down to who you mail to.If you are trying to sell diapers to people without babies, (or grandparents), you are not going to achieve a great response.If you want to sell online gambling to prospects you should do your best to ensure that they have an interest in this activity.

There is an old adage that says “birds of a feather flock together”, and this holds true for consumers of all types.My first piece of advice to companies or affiliates that are looking for a prospect list is to start by taking a look at their current customers.Which of them provide the best value, and what is their demographic and psychographic (lifestyle) profile? Are them male, living in Sweden, and between 25 and 35 years of age?You should know this information, or if you don’t, you should adjust the way that you collect information on your customers to ensure that you get it.

Once you know which of your customers provide you with the highest life-time value, and have determined their profiles, you can now look for lists that contain prospects that most closely resemble these people.Finding a list of 25-35 year old male Swedes is easy.45 year old married ladies living in Montana – no problem.Blind clowns that play video poker?A little tougher, but not impossible.

Look up “list brokers” on Google – you may be surprised at how prolific this business is.As with all marketing you do, work with reputable suppliers, take the time to do some research, and most importantly, test all lists before making large buys.

The VP Marketing for the most successful online casino group told me that their expectation was that for every 10 lists that they tested only 3 would provide them with a positive ROI, but if managed correctly, this more than made up for their other tests, and once they found lists that performed, they could roll out to them in confidence.

Using a targeted list is like hunting with a rifle versus a shotgun.You can be a lot more confident that you will hit your target, and bag yourself some new customers.

Gian Perroni is the President of the Canadian Affiliate Management Company, (CanAffco.com), and has been in the online gaming industry since 1997.A frequent speaker at gaming conferences, Gian has himself been an affiliate, an affiliate program director, and an operator.He and his team work with gaming and retail merchants, helping them manage their affiliate programs.Gian can be reached by email at gian@canaffco.com.